Because a stranger had the blend of compassion, courage, and instinct to speak out, a little boy will live to become an adult.
Sarah Love didn’t know it, but her newborn suffered from a rare genetic disorder that could have taken her life. Yes, he had jaundice at birth, but pediatricians during a checkup were reluctant to attribute it to anything serious and suggested she give 6-week-old Lincoln some sunshine.
It was during an outing to an amusement park with their large and beautiful family, of which Lincoln was the 6th addition, that Love noticed a stranger casting disproportionately long glances at her newborn.
Before they could continue, the stranger decided to act on his instincts.
“He introduced himself and mentioned he was a first responder,” Love said. told Good Morning America. “He said he noticed Lincoln and how jaundiced he was, and he didn’t want to scare us… but he just thought it might be a good idea for Lincoln to get some medical attention.”
Love would later say he only gave up that he was a firefighter in a neighboring county, but she took his advice seriously even though he didn’t say her name.
Calling the same pediatrician who had previously mentioned Licncoln’s jaundice, she referred them to a nearby hospital for blood tests. After his arrival, little Lincoln was put on a drip, before it was ultimately recommended that he be transferred to a specialized hospital, Nemours Children’s Hospital in Orlando.
In Nemours, tests and several misdiagnoses took place, until it was identified as Alagille syndrome, a rare genetic disease that affects the liver and heart and was responsible for sunken eyes, Lincoln’s sharp chin and yellowed skin.
There is no cure for this disease, but pharmaceuticals can still help patients live a long life. Love had always been slightly nervous about Lincoln’s appearance, but said it was the stranger’s comments that pushed her to do it.
STRANGERS SPEAK: She was about to end it all, until a stranger she would never meet told her, “Don’t jump.”
“It was that extra encouragement that we needed,” she told GMA, adding that she learned from the experience that there are “no stupid questions when it comes to your baby’s health.
Depending on how he responds to medications, Lincoln may eventually need a liver transplant, but will have to work alongside a nutritionist for the rest of his life to ensure he and his family can address nutritional deficiencies that he could develop.
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Love said she uses this story to raise awareness online and in her community about Alagille syndrome and how to monitor it in infants. His outreach also aims to try to find the stranger who stood up to say something when he thought he should.
“I don’t think there are enough words to honestly describe how grateful our family is. Thank you from the bottom of my heart,” Love said of his message abroad. “It was a tough thing to go through, but because of that little thing that he did, look how much of an impact he had on Lincoln, on our family. I just want to say thank you.
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